Pelosi Pushed Book, While Taxpayers Revolted Over Bailout
William Hughes
September 29, 2008
On Sept. 29, 2008, the House of Representatives, responding to a taxpayers´ revolt, rejected the $700 billion bailout of the Wall Street bankers. Meanwhile, on Sept. 23, 2008, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was in Baltimore, MD, to give a talk at the central library hawking her book, "Know Your Power." At that point, the Congress was still debating the bailout proposal submitted to it by the Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson and "The Fed´s" czar, Ben Bernanke. Speaker Pelosi didn´t mentioned the bailout in her remarks. Why? I submit because she was too overconfident and thought that there were more than enough votes to pass the financial plan being pushed by the Bush-Cheney Gang. She was wrong! Finally, the voice of the taxpayers has been heard on Capitol Hill!
There was something Kafkaesque, too, about Speaker Pelosi´s appearance at the library that night. She spoke in the main chamber room of the building to a large, receptive audience. Her speech was full of worn out clichés. It seemed Speaker Pelosi was disconnecting from the reality the rest of us see: The U.S. is in a desperate condition as a result of eight years of the warmongering sparked by the Bush-Cheney Gang, the outsourcing of millions of middle class jobs, predatory lenders being allowed to run amuck, and widespread economic meltdown. (1)
Pelosi´s library gig reminded me also of a scene out of the 1965 hit movie, "Doctor Zhivago," which was based on the insightful tome of the same name by the splendid Russian writer, Boris Pasternak. In the film, two of the principal characters are enjoying themselves with a lavish meal, and dancing the night away at a fancy restaurant in Moscow. They are totally oblivious to the massive suffering of the vast majority of their fellow countrymen. This is just before the launching of the Russian Revolution, in 1917, where their world will soon be violently turned upside down.
A false sense of security is what Speaker Pelosi conveyed to her audience. She chose to ignore the grim facts that are today shredding our way of life. Instead, Speaker Pelosi implied, like some Pollyanna, that things will soon be "all better" in America because President George W. Bush´s days in the White House "are drawing to a close." (2) What wishful thinking this is, coming from the Speaker of the House.
And here is why: The hugely influential Military-Industrial Complex and Big Oil, to name just two of the predators feeding off our Republic, are not going to go away simply because there is a new president!
The fact is there is little or no real difference between the two major political parties, known also as the "DemRepublicrats," or Duopoly. In some ways, the Speaker´s remarks at the library were to be, sadly, expected. She doesn´t see herself as being "in opposition" to President Bush, or to the illegal Iraq War, or to the Special Interests which have for so long dominated Capitol Hill. (3)
At the library, Speaker Pelosi also complained about President Bush´s wasting "billions of dollars" on the Iraq War, as if she herself hadn´t been in a position to "stop funding" the conflict, since Jan. 2007. She has been urged over and over again by Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH) to do just that, but she refused to do so. (4) It is clear to me that Speaker Pelosi chooses to be mostly clueless about her role under the U.S. Constitution, as spelled out in the writings of James Madison.
Thankfully, four Third Party candidates have been spotlighting how the Two-Party System is seriously failing the Republic. These gutsy candidates: Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney, Bob Barr and Chuck Baldwin, are struggling to get noticed by the electorate and to be included in the important presidential debates now wrongly dominated by Speaker Pelosi´s beloved Duopoly. (5)
Here´s another reality check for Speaker Pelosi: Earlier in the day, on Sept. 23, 2008, over in Washington, D.C., five courageous members of the Veterans for Peace staged a protest action at the National Archives. They occupied a 35-foot-high ledge in front of the building, where they unfolded a 22x8 foot banner. It read: "Defend Our Constitution: Arrest Bush and Cheney." The Veterans for Peace is a national organization.
One of the Veterans for Peace´s members, Tarak Kauff, discussed, on camera, the reasons for the protest action. He said that there are members of the U.S. Congress who "knew" about the "torture" of detainees, but did nothing about it. (6)
During the Q&A period of her book-selling gig, Speaker Pelosi was confronted about the issue of impeachment. The question from an audience member was: "Why don´t you initiate the impeachment of President Bush?" Her response to the query was very long winded. Speaker Pelosi's excuses why she hasn´t take any action were essentially that impeachment proceedings would have played into the hands of the "Republican Caucus" in the House and that now it´s just too late to do anything, since Bush will be out of office in Jan., 2009. (2)
Finally, 1,172 U.S. troops have died in Iraq, since Speaker Pelosi took office in Jan., 2007. Meanwhile, the war still rages on, our national economy continues to nose dive, and the Wall St. Fat Cats are looking to get even fatter. (7) All of this and more are part of the legacy of Speaker Pelosi, a woman who´d rather push the sales of her book, than do her job.
Notes:
1. http://www.economyincrisis.org/ and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5b2M2lIVCI
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO1-HBXarRs
3. "The Sorrows of Empire" by Chalmers Johnson.
4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gIz44GIftI
5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZEdyiSTmjI
6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1JAFasEYZY
7. http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=258258
2008, William Hughes, All Rights Reserved.
William Hughes´ videos can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=liamh2. His latest book, "Saying ´No´ to the War Party," is available on Amazon. Email Contact: liamhughes@comcast.net.